AMA Releases Medical Liability Claims Frequency Information for Sleep

Last summer, the AMA released medical liability claims frequency information based on its 2007-2008 Physician Practice Information Survey. According to this “snapshot” based on a survey sample size of 5,825 physicians, liability claims frequency for “all physicians” were as follows: 42.2 percent have been sued in the course of their careers; 22.4 percent had been sued two or more times; and 5.1 percent had experienced a liability suit in the previous year. While there is no information on the disposition of these liability actions, the report notes that “the majority of claims are dropped and an even larger percentage are closed without payment.”

This week, the AMA provided a breakdown of this information for 42 physician specialties, including Sleep Medicine. The results for Sleep Medicine (based on a sample size of 96 physicians who identified themselves as specializing in Sleep Medicine) were remarkably similar to the overall physician population: 42.2 percent have been sued in the course of their careers; 20.7 percent had been sued two or more times; and 4.2 percent had experienced a liability suit in the previous year.